Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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681. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the timeframe for approval in cases in which a local authority submits approval for turnkey development; and the funding options for same. [8373/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Local authorities have been making productive use of turnkey development opportunities to achieve delivery of new social housing, as part of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan. In many cases, the developments being supported through these turnkey arrangements would not go ahead without the certainty of the end purchaser and they are particularly beneficial where local authorities have limited or no lands available for housing in an area.

The approval process generally involves one stage, where the local authority provides a capital appraisal to my Department, setting out the details of the proposed turnkey development, to include inter alia, information on the local housing need, suitability of the housing to meet these needs, proximity of local services and cost/value-for-money. The time involved in the approval of such proposals will always depend on the quality of the information provided and key aspects such as costs, but would ordinarily be around 4 weeks.   

My Department funds such projects in full and payment is ordinarily made on completion and delivery of the development in a 'turnkey' condition. If a 10% deposit is advanced, my Department will provide this funding to the local authority. Some turnkey projects are also completed on a phased basis, which allows for payment to be made to the developer on completion of each individual phase.